William Hague: "We are in the death throes of a despicable regime, but it’s not over yet"

"Britain is likely to provide help in clearing landmines and mentoring Libyan police but not to send peacekeeping troops, William Hague said yesterday. Britain has put aside £20 million for immediate assistance, the Foreign Secretary said". - The Times (£)

"On Monday, David Cameron had already spoken with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and the pair agreed a new UN resolution should be explored which would make it legal to transfer to the rebels Libyan assets currently frozen." - Guardian

"David Cameron made a brave, humane and balanced judgment to intervene in Libya when many others would not have done. He can take satisfaction from the fact that, as a result of his leadership in Nato, many people will not die young who would have done so. He and the other Nato leaders have saved some Libyans from the killing that we know Gaddafi is capable of, because he has done it to us. And it is that, and not the fall of the regime, that vindicates the Prime Minister." - Daniel Finkelstein, in the Times (£)

Nick Clegg defends David Cameron for going on holiday

"The Deputy Prime Minister spoke after taking the Prime Minister’s place as chairman of the National Security Committee dealing with Libya. ... The Deputy Prime Minister insisted that there was nothing wrong with Mr Cameron’s decision to return to Cornwall, saying that the Government could deal with the Libyan situation without him." - Daily Telegraph

"Backbench Tory leaders are becoming increasingly jittery about the country's flatlining economy and fear it could cast a shadow over the party's annual conference in October. They are pressing the Chancellor to trail a go-for-growth package in his conference speech to counteract problems beyond his control in the eurozone and the United States." - Independent

"Ken Clarke will today promise to end the scandal of criminals on community punishments ‘sitting idle at home watching daytime TV’. Under new rules, convicts given a community sentence will have to work a minimum of 28 hours a week, including ‘hard manual labour’." - Daily Mail

A police force is to close half its stations because of cuts - Daily Telegraph

Crispin Blunt: The riots were a one-off event

"Prisons Minister Crispin Blunt has said the disturbances in English cities earlier this month were a "one-off" event. Mr Blunt said the justice system could cope in the short-term and there would be no long-term effect on the prison population. Last Friday the prison population hit a new record largely driven by the riots." - BBC

James Clappison MP: People arrested on riot-related offences could face "rushed justice"

"People arrested on riot-related offences could face "rushed justice" because of the pressure on police and the courts after the UK riots, the Conservative MP and senior member of the Commons home affairs committee James Clappison has warned." - Guardian

Greg Clark accuses the National Trust of "nihilistic selfishness" on planning

"Greg Clark, the planning minister, said that the Trust and other charities are being irresponsible by opposing Government plans to streamline planning rules. ... The move is central to Coalition efforts to boost Britain’s economic growth by cutting regulation and red tape. However, the draft national planning framework has met fierce resistance from rural campaigners, who say it will make it much easier for developers to build on greenbelt land and in other rural areas." - Daily Telegraph

"Britain's chaotic asylum system has cost taxpayers £2.3million a day in the last decade. Around 77 per cent who claimed asylum between 1997 and 2010 are still here. ... Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "The asylum system we inherited was hopelessly chaotic. Last year we reduced the total bill for asylum support by over £100million and it is falling further."" - The Sun

"Chris Grayling, the employment minister, is publishing a list of the 10 “most bizarre” health and safety bans which have come to light since he took office just over a year ago. Top of the list is the decision by the Wimbledon authorities to close Murray Mount after it rained, amid fears that tennis spectators would slip over. Bans on pins to secure poppies and the halting of children’s sack races are also ridiculed." - Daily Telegraph

Ann Widdecombe: Cameron should ignore Clegg on human rights

"...Britain is thoroughly fed up with what he has rightly described as the “wrong-headed ideas, bureaucratic nonsense and destructive culture” of the human rights laws without which we managed perfectly well until Blair decided to take us in to this silly convention. It will not be Nick Clegg whose vote the PM will need at the next election but that of the British public. He should tell his wimpish coalition partner just that and take some immediate and decisive action." - Ann Widdecombe, in the Daily Express

Tories and News International face inquiry over Coulson

"The Electoral Commission has been asked to investigate payments made to Andy Coulson by News International after he left his job as editor of News of the World to become David Cameron's spin doctor." - The Scotsman

Ken Livingstone campaign forced to remove image of Boris Johnson's family home from website

"Blogger(s) Guido Fawkes pointed out that a team photo of nerdy young Labour volunteers in Islington, where the party just won a council by-election, was snapped outside Johnson's house, thus identifying his family home. ... Following Guido's complaint, it was taken down." - Independent

"An e-petition calling for the immediate release of Cabinet Office documents relating to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster has gained more than 110,000 signatures, forcing the government to consider a parliamentary debate. ... Now that the e-petition has reached more than 100,000 signatures, the government is obliged to respond." - Guardian

The Sun is glad the figures "for the first time confirm what many already suspected - that too many speed cameras are there just to milk motorists." - The Sun Says

And finally... Prison inmates paint Jacqui Smith's home

"Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, arranged for two day-release prisoners to paint her home when they should have been doing community work. They were diverted to her house in Redditch, Worcestershire by a charity overseeing their work, it was reported. Miss Smith later made a donation to the charity. The Ministry of Justice said last night that it was a “mistake” and that a “full internal investigation” had been launched." - Daily Telegraph

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